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Hi all,
There have been a few posts on the Allwood section of Clifton and how it's a nice area. What isn't said though is what defines "nice"? The aesthetics of the neighborhood? The neighbors? Crime? The community events, if any? We are considering a house in that area. We hear it's nice but feel of community is also important to us which is what had drawn us to the smaller towns. Thanks
Nowhere in Clifton is desirable. I'd avoid Clifton as a whole since the schools are well below par, and higher than average crime. Not a good place to raise a family; Clifton is mostly urban with many apartments, duplexes, and smaller run down homes on small lots. Very close to Paterson and Passaic, two even worse towns.
I'd recommend Wayne Township, Little Falls, Woodland Pk. (formerly known as West Paterson), and Fairfield over Clifton. They are all middle class suburban towns near Clifton where it is much safer, schools are better, homes are on more property, overall better places to live.
Thanks. Yes, Allwood is definately not the only place we're looking. We are mainly looking in Bergen County but there happened to be chatter about the Allwood area. We just want a good place to raise a family. Thanks again.
Nowhere in Clifton is desirable. I'd avoid Clifton as a whole since the schools are well below par, and higher than average crime. Not a good place to raise a family; Clifton is mostly urban with many apartments, duplexes, and smaller run down homes on small lots. Very close to Paterson and Passaic, two even worse towns.
I'd recommend Wayne Township, Little Falls, Woodland Pk. (formerly known as West Paterson), and Fairfield over Clifton. They are all middle class suburban towns near Clifton where it is much safer, schools are better, homes are on more property, overall better places to live.
Troll much? I have never heard anyone come out here and make an ignorant blanket statement like "Nowhere in Clifton is desirable" - until today. I also read your posts about Prince George's County in Maryland...trashing that area as well with a bunch of generalities. Seem like you have a history of this BS.
Clifton is mostly urban with many apartments, duplexes, and smaller run down homes on small lots. Very close to Paterson and Passaic, two even worse towns.
OP asked about the Allwood section, to which that description mostly does not apply. I know, I’ve lived there. None of what you wrote drove my decision to leave. If one wants to avoid Paterson and Passaic, which is probably wise, Allwood is a pretty good choice. If I were to return to Clifton I’d probably look at the areas west of the Garden State Parkway, though, bordering Little Falls and Woodland Park.
Still, although not every area in Clifton is "the ghetto", I wouldn't encourage anyone to move to Clifton. There are far better, safer options out there if you're middle class that are in the same area. Clifton's kind of a "last resort" type of, where you'd live if you can't quite afford to live in Wayne/Little Falls/Totowa/Fairfield/Woodland Park, but can do slightly better than Paterson or Passaic. Clifton has had some serious spillover from Paterson and Passaic, maybe even Newark as well, resulting in drug use, violent crime, gang activity. Clifton schools are rated 3/10 on GreatSchools.com, which is terrible and not too far from Abbott-level quality (meaning the worst in the state). The other towns I mentioned have ratings ranging from 6 to 8 stars out of 10.
I'm not trying to come off as snobbish, but as someone who'se lived in many different areas of north and central Jersey, Clifton is a very poorly regarded area, and only marginally better than Paterson.
Nowhere in Clifton is desirable. I'd avoid Clifton as a whole since the schools are well below par, and higher than average crime. Not a good place to raise a family; Clifton is mostly urban with many apartments, duplexes, and smaller run down homes on small lots. Very close to Paterson and Passaic, two even worse towns.
I'd recommend Wayne Township, Little Falls, Woodland Pk. (formerly known as West Paterson), and Fairfield over Clifton. They are all middle class suburban towns near Clifton where it is much safer, schools are better, homes are on more property, overall better places to live.
Clifton is not as terrible as you make it out to be. As a general rule, everything south of Paulison Ave. is ok, with Montclair Heights, Allwood and Rosemawr being the best sections. Clifton is a great option for young single commuters to Hudson County and the City, DINKS, and young families looking for a starter home for a few years.
I definitely agree that the schools are not the greatest, especially CHS.
As for your other recommendations, Woodland Park is on par and Little Falls is only slightly above Clifton. PVHS is not the greatest either. Wayne is in another socio-economic class altogether. Houses start at around 450K and almost everything under that is in a flood zone. The taxes in Wayne are OUTRAGEOUS, even by NJ standards. I seriously don't understand why that's so. Fairfield is also expensive (cheaper than North Caldwell or Essex Fells, but still) and not in the same socio-economic class as Clifton. Apples and Oranges.
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Thanks
